Hey y'all! I'm proud to be announcing the BelleCON 2013 AMV Contest. It will be held on Saturday of the convention, which runs May 10th-12th in Jacksonville, Florida. I'm especially excited about this one because we're doing some really unique things with it. We want our editors to know that their videos are being seen by their peers, and sometimes even their idols. Instead of secret judges hiding in anonymity, our videos will be judged by award-winning, talented editors with name recognition. The first 'Celebrity Editor' Judge that I'm proud to announce is AquaSky, of Aqua Sky Productions.

Now, on to the nitty gritty of the contest rules! To keep up with the most current version, and read all the technical details, check out our AMV Contest Rules page here.

- Categories -

ActionDramaComedyParodyNoviceProfessionalHomebrew OVA

Please note that these categories are only examples and suggested guidelines of the categories that may be awarded in the BelleCON 2013 AMV Contest. Actual categories will be selected by the judges, based on actual entries received. For example, if no action entries are submitted, or only one or two videos that do not accurately reflect the theme of the category, an award for Best Action may not be presented. These are categories of AMVs, not specifically awards. A Best Of Show will always be given, and more awards may be added at the judges’ discretion.

The “Novice” category is open only to editors who have never won a ‘Best Of’ award (Best In Show, Best Comedy, Best Technical, etc). ‘Honorable Mentions’ are still allowed under the Novice category, and purely internet contests to not count as official awards. If you are a novice you MUST state "I am a Novice" in the description of each video you upload to compete for the Novice award. The “Professional” category is open only to specific videos that have won an award previously, and is designed to prevent videos from being "shopped" all over the country and sweeping contests. You MUST check the box that reads "Check if this has won any previous awards:" when you submit your video. If you fail to click this box and the judges find that your video has won any previous major awards, it will be deemed ineligable for any category besides Pro.

The term “Homebrew OVA” refers to any video composed of live-action or animated source created by the editor; no material taken from an anime, videogame, or live-action movie will be accepted. Audio source for a Homebrew OVA can be original or pre-existing. This is a music video, not a demo-tape; the video must follow the theme of the music, rather than just being a video of someone performing or lip-synching to the audio. The Homebrew OVA must have a Japanese animation, movie, video game, or culture theme. Remember, this is an anime and Japanese culture convention!

All entries must be received by 11:59pm on Saturday, April 20th to provide adequate time for judging.

Each entry will be limited to a maximum length of seven minutes.

Only three entries will be accepted per individual. You may not submit videos on multiple accounts.

Entries may not be smaller than 640x480, and may not run at a slower speed than 23.97 frames per second.

Entries will be disqualified for inappropriate content, including but not limited to nudity, graphic sexual content, excessive violence, and excessive foul language. The judge’s decision on disqualification is final, so if you are concerned about the content of your video, please censor it on your own before submitting it. We will not add beeps or censor your video for you. As a general guideline, all entries should fall within an MPAA rating of PG-13 or lower. You can learn about this rating here: http://www.mpaa.org/FlmRat_Ratings.asp

It should go without saying, but you cannot submit videos you did not create yourself. BelleCON does accept international entries, so there is no need to submit a video on behalf of someone else.

While you don't have to be in attendance at BelleCON 2013 to be eligible... Why wouldn't you want to? We're working hard to tailor events for the AMV editing community, including an Editor's Mixer in our Japanese Tea Room on Friday night, a Winner's Panel on Sunday morning in Special Events, and more. Visit our website to learn more at http://www.belleconventions.com/

Hi all. MaBelle here, I haven't been editing much recently because I have been helping my daughter Ashley (Anna May Belle) with her new convention BelleCON. Ashley and I are both AMV editors, she much more accomplished than myself, as such we would like to put a strong emphasis on AMVs at BelleCON. Aside from our prime time Saturday AMV contest, there will also be an editors mixer held in our Japanese tea room, videos being shown in special events at various times, an AMV game show, and a winners panel on Sunday. This is a first year con but, we have aspirations, we would love for BelleCON to become known as the AMV con in Florida. So, please help us try to make our vision come true by entering. Thank you.

I am incredibly proud to announce three additions to our panel of celebrity judges! In no particular order...

Vlad G Pohnert, Shin-AMV, and MisterFurious!

These three editors, plus our previously announced judge AquaSky, all total up to over 50 years worth of editing experience. We weren't kidding when we said we were assembling a panel of your peers and sometimes idols for judging our contest.

We extended it, on account of AMV editors the world over being notorious procrastinators. ...speaking of which, I need to get back to work on the opening AMV for BelleCON... ...ANYWAY, you've got til 11:59PM on the 27th to enter!